Welcome to the penultimate episode of the season. Where did the time go? We’re down to two Brains, Aubry and Joe; one Brawn, Cydney; and two Beauties, Michele and Tai.

We rejoin our survivors after last week’s Tribal Council and Joe explains to Tai why no one voted with him to oust Michele and instead got rid of Jason. They also made him waste his extra vote.

Tai doesn’t understand why his alliance didn’t go with him. Michele says people shouldn’t go back on their alliance, and Tai had done it three times. Oh the irony — Tai’s alliance flipped on him, which is what everyone has been blasting him for doing.

Michele gets snippy and says she doesn’t need to understand Tai, who is upset that Aubry didn’t loop him in. Aubry tries to explain that the others felt Tai wasn’t letting them express their opinions, but in the end, both Tai and Aubry admit to being confused.

Reward challenge

The survivors will be racing into the jungle, climbing a ladder and retrieving large bags containing five sandbags. Then they must toss the sandbags into squares. The twist is that they only get three bags, and they must throw all five sandbags before returning to get another bag. If they throw all the sandbags without filling the five targets, that have to wait to see if everyone else does the same, and then they all can replenish their supply.

First player to get all five spots filled wins an overnight trip to a spa that includes lots of food, bathing and sleeping on a real mattress.

Everyone except Joe rushes out and are tossing sandbags before Joe comes back with his first sack. But it turns out to be a winning strategy. While the others run out of sandbags without getting a win and wait, Joe is left to compete on his own, and he sinks the final two sandbags to win his first and possibly only challenge.

Jeff Probst makes things interesting by telling him he can pick one player to join him at the spa. He selects his fellow Brain, Aubry. Then Probst tells him he can bring one more and Joe leaves it up to Aubry to pick. She selects Cydney, later saying things are up in the air with Tai so she needs to rethink her strategy.

Michele can see the writing on the wall, so as she and Tai return to the camp, she’s thinking of ways to shake things up and make it to the finals.

At the spa, Joe, Aubry and Cydney are stuffing themselves. Joe is shoving the meat down his pie hole as fast as he can, and he just keeps eating. He says he doesn’t even eat beef, but he’s loving it so much he can’t stop.

Cydney knows all about beef and she predicts that “Mr. Joe” is going to be feeling it later.

The three talk about going to the finals. Cydney is trying to downplay herself and cruise under the radar. Joe says that Cydney has been quiet and happy to just make it to the finals, which makes Aubry realize that Cydney is a huge threat to win the million.

Back at camp, Tai says his heart was broken by Aubry. First, she didn’t tell him what was going on, and then she didn’t pick him for the reward.

Tai and Michele have a talk. Tai says he is drawn to certain people, and he doesn’t have chemistry with Michele, maybe because she’s a beautiful woman. Michele understands but tells Tai she’s never closed the door to him. Later Tai gives Michele a massage, which Michele says feels like a Thai massage, which it totally is because it’s from Tai.

They both know they are on the outs with the other three, and need to come up with a plan otherwise Michele will be voted off next, followed by Tai.

Tai has an idol he could play — the upcoming Tribal Council will be the last opportunity to use it — and knock someone else out. Cydney’s name comes up and so does Aubry’s.

The next morning, Tai talks about how difficult “Survivor” has been, not the physical part; he enjoys that. But it’s hard for him to trust people and it’s taken an emotional toll.

Joe, Aubry and Cydney return. Aubry is more determined than ever to renew the Tai-Joe-Aubry alliance and go to the final three. She needs to make up with Tai and regain his trust. She tells him there is no question that he is the right person to go with her and Joe to the finals.

When Aubry tells him they have to put things behind them and put one foot in front of another, Tai breaks down. It’s a great burden off his shoulders, he says. He now knows Aubry has his back and that’s a relief.

Cydney senses that they’ve made up and that confuses her because she thought they wanted to get Tai off. She talks to Michele, who says they’ve got to be ready to make a move so they can get Aubry or Joe off next.

Joe meanwhile is in pain. He is bloated from all the food, can’t pass urine and is constipated. He’s 71 years old and he thinks his prostate is swollen. Whatever it is, he’s uncomfortable.

Cydney says it’s like watching her grandfather suffer. Aubry is worried because Joe is the linchpin in her game. Michele feels bad for him, but it would benefit her if he gets pulled, she says.

Medical is called in the check him out. The doctor tells Joe that the food he ate is blocking up the plumbing. He gives Joe some medicine to free the blockage, and Joe walks gingerly back into the lagoon to wait for the pills to kick in.

Things get a little better for Joe, but he’s in a lot of pain. The others all believe that Joe is hiding just how bad it is because he is so stoic. Tai is in tears watching him suffer. They all hug him and pretty soon everyone is crying.

When night comes, Probst and the doctor return. Joe pulls up his shirt to show that his once sunken stomach is now distended. Joe tells them that he ate 3 feet of meat, and he’s just clogged up.

The doctor says it can be fixed, but if it’s not treated, it could cause serious, long term kidney damage. In his opinion, Joe needs to be pulled before he does permanent harm to himself. It’s not a matter of withstanding pain, it’s a matter of risking his health.

Joe has been “getting done at 71,” but his adventure on “Survivor” has come to an end.

Aubry says watching Joe is like watching a family member being sick. She’s sad that he has to leave, but relieved that he’ll be getting the medical care he needed.

Joe walks off into the night, becoming the third person to be evacuated this season, something of a record.

With Joe gone, there is no immunity challenge or Tribal Council, which also means that Tai’s immunity idol will go unplayed, like all the rest of them. And yet another of Aubry’s grand plans have gone down the toilet, speaking metaphorically.

Next time: It’s the final show of the season and players are scrambling to make it to the end.